Rep. Rashida Tlaib is the first Palestinian in the US Congress to experience the force of a pro-Israel political machine that has most elected American officials in a headlock of subservience. The pro-Israel powers demonize anyone who dares to criticize Israel by weaponizing "anti-Semitism" as a public bludgeon - something that was immediately used against Tlaib, a liberal Democrat and a Muslim.

Tlaib is an almost accidental member of Congress, as she won the Democratic nomination for Michigan's 13th congressional district when four African-American rivals split that dominant community's vote, allowing her to slip in with a majority of only 900. If she can hold onto her seat when the office comes up for re-election in August 2020, Tlaib might want to look back at the similar challenges that faced Paul Findley, one of the first victims of pro-Israel slander.

Findley was a conservative member of the Republican Party who first took office in 1960, representing an all-white farm belt district in southern Illinois. He was moved by President John F. Kennedy's support of the civil rights movement and he opposed the Vietnam War, pushing his politics from the far right to the center. Findley, who this month died at the age of 98, was the principle authorof the War Powers Act of 1973, which limited the ability of a president to wage war.